Raiders Drop Pre-season Opener

Prince Albert, SK – The Prince Albert Raiders opened the 2018 WHL Pre-season with a 5-3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades on Thursday night at the Art Hauser Centre in the Young Guns Game.

Justin Nachbaur and Sergei Sapego each had a goal and an assist to lead the Raiders offensively. Five different Blades found the back of the net.

The Raiders fell behind at the 7:45 mark of the first period. Riley McKay’s shot from the wing beat Brett Balas to give the visitors the advantage. Four minutes later, the Raiders equalized. Sapego snapped a shot past Koen MacInnes on the power play following a great cross-ice pass from Nachbaur. Before the end of the period, Braden Plaschewsky solved Balas to put the Blades up 2-1 after 20 minutes.

In the second, the Raiders re-tied the game. Aliaksei Protas won a faceoff in the offensive zone to Nachbaur, who promptly picked the top right corner to make it a 2-2 game.

Just 10 seconds into the third period, Carson Miller gave the Raiders the lead for the first time in the contest. Miller’s shot from the right wing snuck through MacInnes on a power play.

Four minutes later, the Blades tied up the game on a power play of their own. Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen’s shot got through traffic in front of the net and past Balas to even things up at 3-3. The game remained deadlocked until the 4:14 mark when Tristen Robins netted the eventual game-winning goal. Michael Farren rounded out the scoring with an empty netter with 1:53 to play.

Balas made 19 saves in a losing effort. MacInnes stopped 36 shots for the Blades.

The two teams renew hostilities on Thursday, September 6 at the Art Hauser Centre in another pre-season contest. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Tickets are available at raiderhockey.com or the Raider Office.

The Raiders open the 2018-19 WHL Regular Season on Friday, September 21 against the Regina Pats. Puck drop is 7 p.m. Single-game tickets are now available at the box office. Season tickets for the upcoming year are also still available for purchase. Click here for more information.

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